3 Years Later, I Still Can’t Believe Netflix Cancelled This Underrated Horror Show After 1 Season

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Netflix has become known for popular and innovative shows like Stranger Things, I Think You Should Leave, and Wednesday. However, the service also has a habit of canceling shows prematurely. While Netflix often takes risks on unique content, it’s equally known for ending series before they can fully develop a following. Many shows have been canceled unfairly, and one horror series, axed three years ago, might be their biggest regret.

Mike Flanagan is known for successfully adapting difficult-to-film Stephen King novels into movies, as well as creating popular horror miniseries for Netflix, including The Haunting of Hill House, The Haunting of Bly Manor, and Midnight Mass. However, his only series intended to continue for multiple seasons, 2022’s The Midnight Club, was unfortunately cancelled. With three years having passed since its ending, it’s now even more apparent that Netflix made a poor decision in cancelling the show.

Netflix Cancelling The Midnight Club Is One of Their Biggest Mistakes

Netflix’s The Midnight Club was a truly distinctive series. It started with the concept from a Christopher Pike novel and expanded to include many more of his stories. The show was structured as a horror anthology, where a group of terminally ill children shared spooky tales – everything from serial killers and witchcraft to science fiction. Woven throughout these stories was a continuing plot focusing on the kids’ lives and what would ultimately happen to them. It was one of the most original shows available on streaming, and especially unique for Netflix.

According to Flanagan, Netflix secured the rights to 28 of Christopher Pike’s books for the show. He also revealed that the series was intended to be long-running, with a wealth of source material available. If it hadn’t been cancelled, it could have become a yearly October tradition for Netflix, consistently attracting and growing its audience with each new season.

Just two months after its debut, Netflix cancelled the show. The news came only hours after Flanagan and his production company, Intrepid Pictures, had agreed to a new deal with Amazon’s Prime Video. While never officially stated, the timing seemed suspicious to many fans—and to Flanagan himself.

While The Midnight Club didn’t have a massive start, earning just over 90 million views in its first week, it’s important to consider the competition. The show launched at the same time as hugely popular series like MONSTER: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story and The Watcher. Interestingly, The Midnight Club actually performed better over its first three weeks than Netflix’s more recent release, Monster: The Ed Gein Story – it received 90.5 million views compared to Gein’s 70.5 million.

The one bright spot for fans after The Midnight Club was cancelled is how the show’s creator, Mike Flanagan, handled the news. Knowing fans would be frustrated by the unresolved storylines, he quickly shared details about what would have happened in a second season. He revealed planned character arcs, including who would have died, and the stories they intended to tell.

Netflix really dropped the ball by canceling a show that likely would have found a dedicated fanbase. It’s especially frustrating when you consider how successful another teen horror series, Wednesday, became. Unfortunately, many Netflix shows end up as ‘what could have been,’ and we’re still disappointed that The Midnight Club was one of them.

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2025-10-25 23:21